I got bored the other day & came up w/ the Lowes polespear. All the materials were purchased for about $25.
Materials List:
2 3'X1/2" round aluminum tubing
2 1/4" coupler nuts
1 2"X1/4" bolt
2 1/4" wood insert nuts
1 2"X1/4" eye bolt
1 6mm coupler nut
1 6mm bolt
48" latex tubing
2 small zip ties
JB Weld
small rope
First I drilled out three ends of the tubing since it will not accomodate the coupler nuts. You have to be careful here so you don't make the walls too thin. Next is to trim the bolt heads off. You want the 1/4" bolt to be about 1.75" & the 6mm bolt the same.
Decide which end to be your spear tip holder (6mm bolt & coupler). Mix some JB Weld together & insert some into the tube. Insert the 6mm coupler, if it's tough use a rubber mallet over a piece of semisoft wood. Turn it over & do the same w/ a 1/4" coupler (it's good to mark which end is which, use a piece of tape).
Now flip it back over to the 6mm end & insert some more JB into the coupler & onto the 6mm bolt. Thread the bolt into the coupler to your desired length. Now set this piece aside to dry. Make sure you let it dry on an even surface.
For the bottom piece, you should have one end drilled out & ready for the remaining 1/4" coupler nut. Insert some JB & insert your coupler. Once it's in place, insert some more JB & thread the 1/4" bolt.
Flip it over. I found some 3/8" wood insert screws that fit the tube just fine. Put some JB in the tube, then put some on the threads. Next put one of the insert screws to the top near the eye & one on the bottom. This should leave you w/ about a 1" gap between them. Fill the gap w/ JB & insert the bolt into the tube. Let it dry.
Once it's dry make sure everything fits together. If the connecting 1/4" bolt is too long, trim it w/ metal cutting saw/dremel. I painted mine camo then attached the rubber.

Styric

04-13-2009, 11:35 AM

That is very cool! When are you going to test it?

SnpperWhisperer

04-13-2009, 07:45 PM

Interesting. Why did you tie a Manny Knot but not loop it through the eye bolt?

kjflyfish

04-13-2009, 11:40 PM

Let's see some fish!

StoninEmTyler

04-14-2009, 12:10 AM

Hell, whatever gets the fish!

fishizzle77

04-14-2009, 07:10 AM

Styric & KJ-I haven't been able to test it due to some heavy surf we're about to receive. Maybe next week.
Snpper-I just went w/ the best of both worlds. I like trying new things & different methods, which is why I made my own p/s. I have a few other ways of tying on as well. Plus, some friends have asked me to make their own, so I'll have a few more experiments coming up. Do you have a preferred method?
I added a grip like bloodyshafts using speaker wire instead. Looks good, feels great.

isibrigade

04-14-2009, 11:09 AM

Nice creation! Nothing like taking fish with something made from scratch at home.

Are those coupling nuts zink plated? I know that most of what I see at Home Depot is either zinc or cadium plated. If so, they will be subject to corrosion. This will pose a problem with the threads.
If you found some that are stainless, you're in the green. Nice work!:thumps:

ROCKHIND

04-14-2009, 11:51 AM

What was the wall thickness on that Aluminum tubing?

Pretty darn spiffy by the way!

fishizzle77

04-15-2009, 06:26 AM

Isibrigade-the nuts are zinc plated. Hopefully it will last me through a season.
Rockhind-the thickness was .065"
Thanks for the compliments.

fishizzle77

04-18-2009, 08:50 PM

After getting the skunk on the surf this morning, I took advantage of the awesome weather we had today. Grabbed the homemade spear & headed under. The viz was maybe 3' at best. Lots of sediment in the water from the north eastern swell that just blew down. Of course @ 3' viz the tog were just blasted. I used a paralyzer tip, cause their skin is fairly soft. No other fishies around. Total haul was 25#. Feels good to bring em in on your own weapon of mass destruction.

kjflyfish

04-18-2009, 08:58 PM

Knockin' em down! Well done.

PTFE tape should help to keep the threads in good shape, plus keep the pole tightly connected.

SnpperWhisperer

04-19-2009, 05:42 AM

yeah great stuff mate, love the picture, keep 'em coming!

Styric

04-19-2009, 12:54 PM

Nice work! Thanks for posting the pic of your catch. I am glad it worked out well.

pkirkspear

04-27-2009, 12:37 AM

how is the band doing. i was wondering if it stretches at all.

fishizzle77

04-29-2009, 07:07 PM

Band is great. It stetches fine. I'm surprised @ the durability it's had. Shot a full stringer last weekend.

oceanhunter1

04-29-2009, 08:05 PM

wow... that looks pretty cool... it looks like it worked pretty well too... nice pic

vnxdragon

06-25-2009, 04:05 AM

You sir, are a genius. Nothing taste better than knowing you caught it and with the equipment you build. I have seen many homemade and by far your is the simplest and with easy to find parts.

Some questions for you. Any rust yet? Does the spear loosen underwater? I had that problem with the JBL 2 piece. What's the biggest/heaviest fish you've gotten on it so far?

fishizzle77

06-26-2009, 05:33 AM

VNX-the only rust comes from the JBL paralyzer tip. As long as you use plumbers tape or silicon tape the threads do not loosen. I have made it a habit to constantly check, though. It wasn't shooting as fast as I like, so I thought it would be better to put on a trident HD band. It ended up bending, so I went back to the regular band. On some newer ones I made, I put on a longer thread in the middle. Also, check out the thread on the Thrift Store spear, I used a thicker grade tube (ski pole). Biggest fish so far has been about a 7 or 8# tog. I'm thinking on the next one of pouring some lead to give the tip a little bit more thrusting power. I have shot at numerous fish without impacting the flesh. It could be the cheapo paralyzer tip too.

mnguy

06-26-2009, 07:38 PM

Twist the spear as you load it. It will even out the directional pressure from the band and stop the spear from bending.

captgfb

07-06-2009, 04:29 PM

Nice work!

What size and type threads are on the 3 prong? In other words, what size / type of bolt did you use to thread the tip to? I'm making a p/s right now and that's the only issue I have.

My guess is 60% of paralyzers made today have a 6mm thread then the 3/8"-24 is second with around 30% of the market.

6mm is the weakest size thread used in spearfishing equipment and I wouldn't mind seeing this thread go away from paralyzers as well as most other tips.
How many out there have bent or snapped off a 6mm thread from their polespear or spearshaft?

fishizzle77

07-07-2009, 05:55 AM

It's a 6mm & Aaron's right. It's definately not the strongest out there. After shooting some hefty tog, the tip has worked it's way to "bendable". I think I'm just going to use some more JB & make it a fixed head.
Use a stainless coupler nut to attach to the inside. Ace hardware should have it.

captgfb

07-07-2009, 10:42 AM

Thanks all for the info! Hope to show pics of spear and quarry by this time next week.

vnxdragon

12-06-2009, 12:37 AM

why do you paint your pole? Wouldn't the aluminum finish act as a flasher and attract more fish?

fishizzle77

12-06-2009, 09:02 AM

vnx-the camo is just like the wetsuits-it looks cool. Paint it whatever color you like. On my Ray Odor I put on holographic tape from a craft store.

mnguy

12-07-2009, 12:09 AM

why do you paint your pole? Wouldn't the aluminum finish act as a flasher and attract more fish?

Depends on the fish too. Some pelagics might like the flash, but more reef associated species might not. Some people have had success twisting their guns/polespears to make the flopper shine and get calicos to hold for an extra second. I've just noticed it puts them further on edge.

Aaron Proffitt+

04-15-2010, 04:12 PM

Thanks mods....

Dum Num

04-15-2010, 04:15 PM

Way cool man! That is nice work. Two thumbs way up!!

S. Haynie

07-24-2010, 10:54 PM

I'm not terribly clear as to which nuts go where. The wood insert screws go in the section that joins the two shaft pieces togeather? Or those are for the eye bolt to thread into?

If you wanted to revamp this from the bendable tip problem I could make you a 5/8 slug that slides over then you could slide your 6mm bolt through it with some epoxy to lock it in place. It would add punch and distribute pressure over the shaft.

I'm building a similar but I have a lathe and I want a section of solid fiberglass up front to take side pressure-shock.

how is the ridgidity of the shaft as a whole?

Thanks,
Scott

S. Haynie

07-24-2010, 10:55 PM

I'm considering marrying carbon fiber sleeves to a fine fiberglass tube for the back 2/3 to keep all the weight up front. but I may give up on that and use aluminum the way you have. Turns out raw carbon fiber is cheap but the epoxy is pricy.

SnpperWhisperer

07-25-2010, 01:48 AM

Who's our moderator? Why is this thread a sticky?

TJ8

11-06-2010, 10:53 AM

I made this spear a while back... The thing broke at the connection of the two pieces after I pulled the band a few times. My thought, maybe an uneven boring out of the tube?? But anyway since I was left with an unrepairable spear, I put just one 3' section to use and actually caught a few fish with it!!

viva la figa

02-05-2011, 09:25 PM

Nice creation! Nothing like taking fish with something made from scratch at home.

Are those coupling nuts zink plated? I know that most of what I see at Home Depot is either zinc or cadium plated. If so, they will be subject to corrosion. This will pose a problem with the threads.
If you found some that are stainless, you're in the green. Nice work!:thumps:

even the SS stuff at Home depot is crap and rusts almost as fast as if were just plain old iron. I used some Home Depot SS eye bolts on the yacht and they rusted with in weeks desite getting a fresh water wash down after every time out sailing. go to West Marine and get any fasteners there its much higher grade stuff and works well!

a.s.alvarez

02-08-2011, 01:12 PM

Who's our moderator? Why is this thread a sticky?

I am with you!:scratch::scratch:

dirty_drew

03-31-2011, 05:49 PM

I made something like this similiar over the summer but broke it on a rock.:mad:
I'm gonna try and give it another go this weekend and try to strengthen up the pole tip a bit more.

EKKsoldier622

04-03-2012, 03:20 PM

I'm not one to usually bring back an old thread, but I made one of these this past weekend and got in a couple dives with it. However, due to possibility of the flex that may occur on the tube, I have only made a 3' one. Instead of drilling out the tube and possibly making it more prone to flex or break, I ground down the 6mm nuts and the 1/4" coupling nuts so they would have a little less than a snug fit in the original ID of the tube and spaced out the nuts along the length of their respective bolts to give maximum area for jb weld to grip onto the inside of the tube. I also bought a $6 5' 3/8" pole spear band that I made a loop at the end of (manny knot) for any sort of line. So the pole spear ran about ~$21 + $5 JB Weld (one pack of JB Weld could probably make at least 4 polespears). The most expensive part aside from the $10 tubing was the spear tip, which was twice as much as the spear itself.

Initial observations are that for a 'cheap' polespear it is effective as hell. If a fish gets hit by this and tries to run the bungie will probably snap before the JB Weld gives out. Having a slip-tip also help reduce the possibility of the aluminum bending. If I make one of these longer than 3', which I plan on doing in a month or so, I will put a rod with a diameter matching the I.D. of the tube running the length of it (cutting it a little shorter to compensate for the bolts) to help reduce any possibility of bend, while stretching the band.

I may also make some 2' ones that have only a point coming out of the end so I can have 4-5 very quick, easy to rotate between, spears for when I drop down on deep ledges that have a good number of lionfish in those little groups they sometimes like to congregate in (slip tip isn't ideal as it isn't "fast" enough for when I come upon 4-5 of them)